DR. Carlos K. Wesley: Can PRP "Jump Start" Stunted Hair Growth

[Billena]

This 27-year-old man had undergone a follicular unit extraction (FUE) procedure at another practice one year ago. He grew frustrated that a significant number of the grafts remained as stubble even a full year after the procedure.

He, therefore, had a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) series at our office. The results can be seen a few months later both in magnified form as well as globally.

[Carlos Wesley, MD]

While seemingly every clinic has their own protocol for the frequency of PRP treatments (some claim every month, others every 3, and others one-and-done), I think that it makes the most sense to wait at least six months after having had surgical hair restoration before attempting to accelerate or stimulate further growth with a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) session.

To my knowledge there is no clear data to support this, however. It has been demonstrated that newly-transplanted hairs continue to come in for the first time even 18 months after a hair transplant. So, my preference (as was the case with this patient) is to wait well over a year after a surgery before embarking on any further intervention.